Cairns pictures, part III final

So I didn't realize until finishing the last post that we only had four more pictures from Cairns total.  We were there for a whole week, but apparently we stopped taking pictures.  But that's ok.  The photos we have pretty much cover everything.

The four remaining pictures that I have were taken on Monday.  Our snorkeling trip on Thursday was such a cool experience that we booked another snorkeling trip for Monday, on a different boat.  This time, we would do snorkeling only, at three different sites on the Great Barrier Reef.

The weather looked a little better that morning.  No rainbows off in the distance signaling storms.

Here I am with Jonathan in front of our boat and the blue sky.

It took about an hour to sail out to our destination, Flynn Reef.  The journey was much less bumpy than Thursday's journey.

This particular snorkel and dive company very strongly recommended wearing stinger suits, even though it wasn't stinger season, and the suits were included with the snorkel gear, along with mask, fins, life vest (optional), and pool noodle (also optional, but convenient for keeping the party together).  Not included was the option of renting a wetsuit, if you thought you'd be too chilly.  The water temperature was about 78 degrees, not bathtub warm, but not painful to jump into, so we decided we'd try it out first before renting the wetsuit.

Here is what Jonathan and I looked like in our stinger suits.

I didn't have my hood on yet, but Jonathan is modeling his for you.

And then we went snorkeling.  And it was awesome again!  And this time, we didn't buy any of the underwater pictures!  So you will just have to close your eyes and imagine awesomeness!

We saw parrot fish, clown fish, a white tipped shark, giant clams, and a whole bunch of other stuff whose names I don't know.  The ocean is alive!  (Are your eyes still closed?  Can you picture it?)

After our first snorkel trip, the boat was moved to another location on the same reef.  We listened to a talk about marine wildlife, which was interesting but not memorable enough for me to share with you.  We ate a buffet lunch.  And then we jumped in again.

The wind had picked up a little, and we had to pull that full body stinger suit back on, wet and cold.  But it was worth it! We swam around for another hour, seeing all the interesting sea life on the reef.  And then we came out and pulled off our suits, and the wind had picked up even more, and we were all shivering and blue as we hurried inside the boat. 

At our last stop, the sun was shining brightly, and we were in the warm tropics, but I was still wet and cold.

Jonathan and Tim got up and went to put on their cold, wet, stinger suits to jump in again.

But I was shivering.  Freezing.  I told them I needed to take a few minutes to warm up and they should go without me.

Just a few minutes.  And then a few more.  And a few more.

Every time the door opened to the snorkeling deck, and the wind blew in, I was cold all over again.

Finally I steeled myself.  I was on the Great Barrier Reef, and I was there to go snorkeling, and I would not be there again for a very long time.

Come on, J.  Snorkeling is worth a little bit of hypothermia.

So I went out, and pulled on the cold suit again, and jumped in, and swam vigorously!  And it was awesome!  And I'm very glad I did it.  But I was glad to come out and warm up and stay warm!

On the way back, we motored more quickly through the water, and the boat created large wings of water on either side, which washed over the windows and outside deck.

My final picture is an artsy one.  This is what Green Island looks like out a wave-soaked window.

So that's it for the pictures.

That's not it for our activities in Cairns.  We were indeed there for a week.  We only went on excursions three of the days.  The rest of the time we walked along the boardwalk, played in the hotel pools, went shopping in the city.  I bought a yellow rash guard shirt, which you saw me sporting in previous pictures, to prevent sunburn, because the sky is thin over Australia.  And they called it a "rashie."  As in, the "women's rashies are on that rack over there."  I was wearing a bright yellow rashie.

We also tried to buy Jonathan some good sandals to wear in the wet by the pool and on the beach, but there seemed to be only flip-flops available, no equivalent of Tevas.  So Jonathan wore shoes and socks, with all the added frustration (to Dad) of putting them on with wet feet.  I know I said we were done with photos, but now I remember we had a picture of that, too.

Attempting to put on shoes with socks on Green Island Beach.

And that is really all.  It was a very lovely vacation, at a lovely destination.  Highly recommended.